Railway-spike.



UNITED STATES PATENT onine-E..l

GRANT C. CLOVER, OF CHARLEVOIX, MICHIGAN.

RAILWAY-SPIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 7,1908. p

Application filed March 25.1507. Serial No.'364.274.

are employed to secure railway rails on the ties of a roadbed.

A great diiiiculty, if not the chief trouble met with in the use of spikes is the self-working or pulling out of the same after they are driven in place.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a special construction. or form of means whereby the objections mentioned may be overcome, it being recognized that efforts have previously been made to overcome the same mischieis,

The nature of my improvement is ascertainable from the device portrayed in the annexed drawings, forming a part oi this specication, in View of which it Will first be described in detail with respect to its construction and mode of operation, and then be par-` ticularly pointed out in the subjoined claims.

Oi the said drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved railroad spike. Fig. 2 is a side view. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section.

Similar numerals oll reference designate similar parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

In the drawings, (3 designates the head of the spike and 7 the shank, the lower end 8 of which is sharpened lo facilitato the driving o'lE the spike into n tio.

At intervals along tlu` sides ol' the spike 1t isv provided with recesses 9 in the bottoms of which there are holes 10 into which are driven the lower ends 0f spring tongues 11 so as to be held in place frietionally. Theupper ends of the tongues normally s ring outward beyond the plane of the Siles of the spike, though they are adapted to be pressed inward into recesses 9 withln the plane of the sides, as will be apparent to those skilledin the art.

In use, with the spike constructed as explained, it will be set and driven as usual, and as the shank passes into the tie the outer ends of the spring tongues will be pressed into the recesses 9, so` as not to obstruct the driving. After the spike is driven home, should there be any tendency for it to work upward or pull out, the ends of the tongues will be pressed outward by their own resiliency and take into the wood at the sides and resist the upward pull. i

It may form depressions 13 in the spike be- 'low the recesses 9 down into which the ends oi the spring tongues may be turned iu case great and undue force is exerted on the head oi the spike by a spike-puller to purposely withdraw it from the tie.

What is claimed is A railroad spike having recesses l'ornnd ai intervals in its sides, and resilient holding dovices secured at their lower ends in the hottom of said recesses, their upper ends turned outward normally on a curved line to catch in the tie to prevent the spike 'from being pulled out, and being depressed in the re-V cesses when the s )ike 1s being driven, in order not to obstruct t xe latter o )eration In testimony whereof, I a '1X my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

GRANT C. (ROVER. 'W-itnesses:

WILLIAM II. CoLLlNs,

Mrs. E. J. CLovnR. 

